1990 in American television
See also: 1989 in television, other events of 1990, 1991 in television and the list of 'years in television'.
Events
- January 21 - MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with musical guest, Squeeze
- February 17 - Aerosmith appears in the Saturday Night Live sketch Wayne's World, where they perform the Wayne's World theme song.
- Chris Farley and Adam Sandler joins Saturday Night Live
- The poorly received Cop Rock preimieres on television, TV's first (and last) musical police drama.
- Legislation is signed into United States law requiring close captioning decoders in all large color TVs manufactured after July 1, 1993
Popular Television Shows
- One Foot in the Grave premieres on the BBC (1990-2000)
- Cheers (1982-1993)
- Cops (1989-present)
- The Cosby Show (1984-1992)
- Dallas (1978-1991)
- Full House (1987-1995)
- Inspector Morse (1987-2000)
- Jeopardy! (1984-present)
- Late Night with David Letterman (1982-1993)
- MTV (1981-present)
- Roseanne (1988-1997)
- Saturday Night Live (1975-present)
- Seinfeld (1989-1998)
- Sesame Street (1969-present)
- The Simpsons (1989-present)
- The Tonight Show (1954-present)
- Wheel of Fortune (1975-present)